Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 24
Fourth line leads Penguins to crucial win over HurricanesVideo
Because it’s not usually a source of offense, a fourth line can make a big impact on the momentum of a hockey game by scoring a goal or two. On Sunday night, the combination of Matt Cullen, Garrett Wilson and Adam Johnson did much more than that. They made a...
Penguins notebook: Nick Bjugstad puts emphasis on scoring ugly goals in crunch time
Conventional wisdom suggests once a hockey season reaches its latter stages, goals get uglier. Instead of fancy plays off the rush, teams usually score on greasy plays around the net. Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bjugstad, apparently, has taken this philosophy to heart. Coming into Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes,...
Penguins’ focus should be on clinching, not seeding, coach Mike Sullivan says
On the surface, Sunday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes looks like a battle for third place in the Metropolitan Division. With four games left in the regular season, the Penguins are holding down the spot and the Hurricanes are only two points behind. The winner will have...
Sunday’s showdown with Carolina could map out Penguins’ playoff path
When Sidney Crosby looks at the standings, he generally looks at who the Pittsburgh Penguins can catch rather than who’s chasing them. That won’t be possible on Sunday evening at PPG Paints Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes will come to town in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, just two points...
Penguins searching for offense as season winds down
Given the names on the roster and the way most of this season has gone, it seems like a preposterous question to ask. Yet the answer might very well determine the fate of the team as the Stanley Cup chase begins in earnest. Can the Pittsburgh Penguins score enough goals...
Injured Penguins star Evgeni Malkin returns to practice, tries to be niceVideo
Evgeni Malkin is trying to be a nice guy. He’s trying to focus on recovering from an upper-body injury and getting back into the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup for a game or two before the playoffs start. He took a step in that direction by joining his teammates for practice in...
After rough start, Penguins’ Olli Maatta gets up to speed in return from injury
In his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with a shoulder injury, defenseman Olli Maatta played 19 shifts for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday night. The last 18 went significantly better than the first one. “I think it took a...
Predators goalie Pekka Rinne beats Penguins at PPG Paints Arena for 1st timeVideo
Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne plays a prominent role in one of Jake Guentzel’s greatest professional memories. On Friday night, he was probably the star of Guentzel’s nightmares as well. Rinne made 42 saves, including a handful of stops on Guentzel in prime scoring situations, leading the Predators to a...
Penguins settling into stable line combinations down the stretch
While injuries have caused a shuffle on the Pittsburgh Penguins blue line in recent days, the combinations up front have been remarkably stable. In fact, with five games left in the regular season, it’s not hard to project the line combinations coach Mike Sullivan will use in the playoffs. The...
Penguins, durable Jack Johnson set for ‘best time of the year’
When the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Nashville Predators on Friday night, they will do so having not played a game since Monday in New York. That’s the longest stretch of time off the team has enjoyed since the all-star break. “It’s nice to try to heal up some things...
Penguins’ Olli Maatta on track to return vs. Predators
Olli Maatta’s status for Friday night’s game against the Nashville Predators will be a game-time decision. Should he return to the lineup, Maatta would consider that a great and welcome luxury. Out since suffering a shoulder injury Feb. 11, Maatta said he thinks getting in a few regular season games...
No drama as Sidney Crosby takes Penguins MVP honors
Unlike some professional teams in town, there was an utter lack of drama when the Pittsburgh Penguins announced their internal team awards Thursday. Sidney Crosby was voted Team MVP and won the Player’s Player Award, to the surprise of no one. Crosby leads the team and is sixth in the...
With Penguins defense in flux, Brian Dumoulin could be leaning right
With Kris Letang still out with an upper-body injury, Olli Maatta very close to returning from a shoulder injury and left-handed Brian Dumoulin potentially switching to the right side, the blue line is in a state of flux at the moment for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Letang was on the ice...
Penguins’ Matt Cullen nominated for Masterton Award
On Thursday morning, Matt Cullen was chosen as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.” Cullen has two of those criteria down pat. As a 42-year-old...
For Penguins, playoff picture brightens as regular season winds down
When a Pittsburgh Penguins player takes a gaze at the NHL standings with 10 days left in the regular season, he has two choices. He can look up, or he can look down. Looking up means pondering the possibility of a Metropolitan Division championship. Mathematically speaking, there’s about a 1...
Penguins turn tables with shorthanded scoring spree
NEW YORK – As the Pittsburgh Penguins gave up shorthanded goal after shorthanded goal throughout much of this season, the players who regularly kill penalties for the team must have been watching closely from the bench. These days, the Penguins are the ones scoring the back-breaking shorthanded goals, not allowing...
Teddy Blueger scores twice in Penguins’ win over Rangers
NEW YORK — On his way up the hockey ladder, the scouting report on Teddy Blueger was always the same. Great defensive centerman. Offensive game leaves something to be desired. Twenty-three games into his NHL career, Blueger is doing his part to tear that scouting report to bits. Blueger scored...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby sets sights on 100-point mark
NEW YORK – Over the past four seasons, Sidney Crosby has been one of the most consistent scorers in hockey. He recorded between 84 and 89 points each year. It’s a trend Crosby is happy to break this season. Crosby is fifth in the league with 93 points. With six...
Penguins give Matt Murray another start in net
NEW YORK – Given the circumstances, Monday night’s matchup with the New York Rangers might have been a good game for Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan to give starting goalie Matt Murray some time off. Murray played on the first three legs of the team’s four-city road trip and had...
Penguins’ Kris Letang out again with upper-body injury
NEW YORK – After missing 11 games in the past month, defenseman Kris Letang is out again for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Letang will not play against the New York Rangers on Monday night due to an upper-body injury and his status is considered day to day, coach Mike Sullivan said...
Penguins in midst of remarkable defensive turnaround
It’s not all that surprising the Pittsburgh Penguins have one of the best records in hockey since the NHL trade deadline. They’re a talented, veteran group that has been through the wringer of an 82-game schedule before. They know when it’s time to buckle down. What’s shocking is exactly how...
Penguins’ Matt Murray puts late-game woes behind him with strong showing in Dallas
DALLAS – While he was stuck in a stretch where he gave up the tying goal in the final five minutes of regulation four times in 13 games, it seemed tone deaf to point out how well Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray was playing. Yeah, his save percentage is great...
Jared McCann’s short-handed goal gives Penguins win over Stars
DALLAS — The way they got the lead was so pretty, the Pittsburgh Penguins just couldn’t bear to give this one away. Jared McCann scored a short-handed goal on a spinning backhander to break a third-period tie and lead the Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on...
Former Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak gets right back to where he started from
DALLAS – There are very few players in the history of hockey who can relate to what defenseman Jamie Oleksiak has gone through in the past two seasons. In December of 2017, the Dallas Stars shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick. In January, the Penguins...
Penguins’ Jared McCann sees no need to apologize for racking up empty-net goals
DALLAS – Since he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Feb. 1 trade, four of the nine goals Jared McCann has scored were shot into an empty net. That’s the kind of development that will earn McCann some good-natured razzing from teammates who will chide him for picking low-hanging fruit,...
